1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed generally to a system and method for retrieving digital video, digital audio, and digital text data. The present invention is directed more particularly to a system and method for capturing and accessing video data in a manner so as to give the user the impression that they are communicating with an embodiment of the individual, i.e., interacting virtually with the subject.
2. Description of the Background
The ability to convey information represents an extremely important aspect of our society. With the advent of multimedia, numerous methods of presenting information to those who need to learn the information are being advanced. Studies by the Armed Services have shown that students learn material more fully and in less time with interactive video, even when compared and contrasted with computer-based training. In one Army study, three groups of students took a course on missile electronic troubleshooting. One group took a standard lecture course, one a computer-based training course, and one an interactive video course. After the courses, the students were given actual system faults to troubleshoot. The lecture group solved 25 per cent of the faults. Both the computer-based training group and the interactive video group found 100 per cent of the faults. However, the classroom and computer-based training groups took about the same amount of time to find the faults, whereas the group trained with interactive video found the faults in one-half the time of the other two groups.
In another study, an intelligent tutoring system for electronic troubleshooting gave technicians with twenty hours training on the system the equivalent of four years of on the job training. Studies in other domains have consistently found similar results. Clearly, the use of interactive video and/or intelligent tutoring systems provides a substantial advance over standard lecture courses or passively watching a program in a linear manner.
The need for technological solutions to learning has led to the development of intelligent interactive video simulations. In an article authored by one of the present inventors entitled "Intelligent Interactive Video Simulation of a Code Inspection", appearing in Communications of the ACM, Volume 32, No. 7, pages 832 through 843, July 1989, the inventor discusses the preparation of a video simulation and the results achieved therefrom. The purpose of the video simulation is to provide a tightly scripted environment in which questions and answers are prepared and actors act out various characters providing the answers. While the use of such video simulations can provide substantial benefits over traditional classroom study, their preparation is very expensive in terms of scripting the questions and answers and then acting out the answers.
Another method of presenting information to an end user involves the use of artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence shells can be purchased and encoded with various domain information. The domain information is encoded in the form of rules. An artificial intelligence system, once encoded with domain information, can perform numerous tasks, such as performing a diagnosis, identifying possible malfunctions in an engine, etc. However, coding the domain information is difficult and expensive. The domain expert must spend a substantial amount of time with a knowledge engineer explaining to the knowledge engineer how the domain expert performs his functions. Thereafter, that information must be carefully coded by the knowledge engineer into a series of complex rules. Thus, the need exists for a simple method of gathering domain information and presenting that information in an interactive manner so as to convey the information in a manner which can be readily learned.